Sterile Neutrino Fits to Short Baseline Neutrino Oscillation Measurements

This paper reviews short baseline oscillation experiments as interpreted within the context of one, two, and three sterile neutrino models associated with additional neutrino mass states in the ~1 eV range. Appearance and disappearance signals and limits are considered. We show that fitting short baseline data sets to a (3+3) model, defined by three active and three sterile neutrinos, results in an overall goodness of fit of 67%, and a compatibility of 90% among all data sets -- to be compared to the compatibility of 0.043% and 13% for a (3+1) and a (3+2) model, respectively. While the (3+3) fit yields the highest quality overall, it still finds inconsistencies with the MiniBooNE appearance data sets; in particular, the global fit fails to account for the observed MiniBooNE low-energy excess. Given the overall improvement, we recommend using the results of (3+2) and (3+3) fits, rather than (3+1) fits, for future neutrino oscillation phenomenology. These results motivate the pursuit of further short baseline experiments, such as those reviewed in this paper.Comment: Submitted to Advances in High Energy Physics Special Issue on Neutrino Physic

Book Review

This review presents an overview of The Lawyer, the Public, and Professional Responsibility by F. Raymond Marks. The book notes that the relationship between public interest and the legal profession is somewhat troubled and suggests that public interest firms may be used to make it so that the two work together more seamlessly towards mutual goals

Implementing the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the General Assembly on November 20, 1989, articulates a comprehensive scheme of rights specifically tailored to children. International recognition of children\u27s rights is only the first step, however. The effectiveness of the Convention on the Rights of the Child depends on the signatories\u27 efforts to comply with its provisions and to incorporate children\u27s rights into existing schemes of established rights. The 1996 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa includes specific rights for children resembling those articulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Although South Africa has incorporated children\u27s rights into its Constitution, there are still substantial numbers of children in South Africa who do not enjoy the protection that the Convention on the Rights of the Child demands. In this Note, the Author examines the experience of South Africa to illustrate that the constitutionalization of children\u27s rights does not alone ensure that the rights of the Convention are accessible to children. The Author addresses the barriers to South Africa\u27s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and offers possible solutions to them. The Author\u27s conclusion is that implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires legislative reform and increased participation of community-based organizations, as well as constitutionalization of children\u27s rights

Coherent Neutrino Scattering in Dark Matter Detectors

Coherent elastic neutrino- and WIMP-nucleus interaction signatures are expected to be quite similar. This paper discusses how a next generation ton-scale dark matter detector could discover neutrino-nucleus coherent scattering, a precisely-predicted Standard Model process. A high intensity pion- and muon- decay-at-rest neutrino source recently proposed for oscillation physics at underground laboratories would provide the neutrinos for these measurements. In this paper, we calculate raw rates for various target materials commonly used in dark matter detectors and show that discovery of this interaction is possible with a 2 ton$\cdot$year GEODM exposure in an optimistic energy threshold and efficiency scenario. We also study the effects of the neutrino source on WIMP sensitivity and discuss the modulated neutrino signal as a sensitivity/consistency check between different dark matter experiments at DUSEL. Furthermore, we consider the possibility of coherent neutrino physics with a GEODM module placed within tens of meters of the neutrino source.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Cyclotrons as Drivers for Precision Neutrino Measurements

As we enter the age of precision measurement in neutrino physics, improved flux sources are required. These must have a well-defined flavor content with energies in ranges where backgrounds are low and cross section knowledge is high. Very few sources of neutrinos can meet these requirements. However, pion/muon and isotope decay-at-rest sources qualify. The ideal drivers for decay-at-rest sources are cyclotron accelerators, which are compact and relatively inexpensive. This paper describes a scheme to produce decay-at-rest sources driven by such cyclotrons, developed within the DAEdALUS program. Examples of the value of the high precision beams for pursuing Beyond Standard Model interactions are reviewed. New results on a combined DAEdALUS--Hyper-K search for CP-violation that achieve errors on the mixing matrix parameter of 4 degrees to 12 degrees are presented.Comment: This paper was invited by the journal Advances in High Energy Physics for their upcoming special issue on "Neutrino Masses and Oscillations," which will be published on the 100th anniversary of Pontecorvo's birt